Apparatus for vulcanizing endless belts



y 1952 R. R. AMBLER 2,598,655

APPARATUS FOR VULCANIZING ENDLESS BELTS Filed May 28, 1948 1 2 SHEETS.-SHEET 1 May 27, 1952 R. R. AMBLER APPARATUS FOR VULCANIZING ENDLESS BELTS 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May 28, 1948 ZYL/EH- 7275 50.55.22? 524722227255 W 7 .zf

Patented May 27, 1952 APPAKATUS FDR VULCANIZING ENDLESS BELTS.

Robert R. Ambler,v Akron, Ohio, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York A plication May 2 8, 1948, Serial No. 29,998

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for vulcanizing endless belts and is especially useful in vulcani-zing V'-belts or other belts of small crosssectional dimensions.

In the manufacture or small belts of trapezoidal cross-section, the belts have been assembled of rubber or other rubber-like material and textile material in the form of cords or fabric or both, the cords being of cotton or other natural or Synthetic materiaI or of metallic wire. After-the belts have been assembled they usually have been placed in confining molds and vulcanized to shape them and to set the rubber-like material.

Great difilculty has been encountered in maintaining the cords and fabric under proper tension while placing them in the molds and during vul- (ionization of the belts while they are in the molds resulting in belts in which the cords and fabric are so misplaced as not to perform their intended functions eniciently and belts having excessive stretchability. Where it is desired to employ the belts in multiple belt drives, uniformity of stretchability of the belts is of great importance in providing for equal division of the load upon the belts.

It is an object'o'f the present invention to provide for efiectively tensiomng the belts within the confining grooves of molding apparatus while mounting the belts upon such apparatus, and to so tension belts as a group.

Another object of the invention is to provide effectively for shaping the belts during vulcanization thereof while providing for quickly mounting and dismounting the belts between molding surfaces.

Other objects are to support the molding apparatus for mounting and dismounting the belts, to provide molding mechanism collapsible into small space, and to provide for simultaneously vulcanizing a plurality of belts at one time.

A further object is to provide positive operanon or the collapsing mechanism.

These and other objects will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

01 the drawings:

Fig. i is a front elevation "of a molding drum Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a stand having a horizontal shaft Ii secured thereto for removably supporting a cohlapsibledrum l2. The drum i2 is of cylindrical shape and has a multiplicity of spaced apart Gil?- cumferential grooves l3 for forming belts therein. For the purpose of mounting and demounting the belts M in the .grooves, the drum is formed of three complementary sections 20, 2|. 22 of which the section 20 has aligned hubs 2'4, 25 which are eccentrically positioned relative to the cylindrical face of the drum to provide greater collapsing movement of the sections. A sleeve 26 rotatably extends through the hubs and has a pair of crank arms 21, 28 fixed thereto which abut against theinner faces of the hubs and act as collars to retain the sleeve therein.

The shaft H has a feather key 30 for slideably engaging a keyway in the-sleeve to prevent relative rotation of the sleeve and shaft. A latch 31 is located in a slot 32 at the projecting end of the shaft I I and is pivotally secured therein by a pin 33 extending into the shaft. A coil spring 34 holds the latch in projecting relation to the shaft to retain the sleeve 26 thereon but the latch may be depressed to permit removal.

The section 22 is hingedly secured to the section' 20 by a hinge pin 36 having an axis parallel to shaft ll. Ears 31 are formed on section '22 and are pivotally connected by pins 38 to links 39 which are in turn pivotaily connected to crank arms 21, 28 by pins 40.. The arrangement is such that section 22 is swung about pivot pins 36 by relative rotational movement of sleeve 25 and section 20.

Section 2| is hingedly connected to section '20 by a pivot pin 35, parallel to shaft II and at one end of the section. At the other end of section 2! a pair of cars M are provided having pins 42 on which cam rollers "43 are vfreely rotatable.

Section '22 has a pair of cam plates 44 thereon having cam grooves 45 for guiding the rollers. The cam "grooves are of suchv shape that as section 22 is moved toward the shaft H, section-2| is also moved toward the shaft to a. position over lapping section 22 as seen in Fig. 5.

For manipulating the sections of the drum to mount the belts in the grooves and properly tension them therein, a. lever 50 has a hub ill journaled on shaft H. has short arm is-bent to provide a dog 52 having a terminal slot 53 '(sec Fig. 4) adapted to straddle a web "54 of section 20 to rotate section 20 with it about shaft H. As the sleeve 26 to which crank. arms 21 and 28 are secured cannot rotate with the section 20, the sections 2|, 22 are swung inwardly by such movement to collapse the drum.

In the collapsed position of the drum as shown in Fig. 5, the belts 14 may be removed without stretching them as they are of greater circumference than that of the collapsed drum.

In the operation of the apparatus, the lever 50 is rotated about the fixed shaft 1 I to collapse the drum as shown in Fig. 5. Belts M are placed a collapsible belt-molding drum removably over the drum, one being placed in each groove. 1

The drum is then expanded by moving the lever V 50 inthe opposite direction to seat the belts and" In the expanded tension them in thegrooves. position, as shown in Fig. 2, the crank arms 21,

28 are on dead centers and'hold the drum in the expanded form. The latch H is then depressed and the drum withdrawn axially of the shaft 'H. The drum with the belts thereon is then placed in an open steam vulcanizer to cure the belts. After the belts have been vulcanized the drum is replaced on shaft II and collapsed.

Thereupon'the belts may be removed and replaced by others. e

Variations may bemade without departing j from the scope of the invention movement of a section relative to another with,

said sections collectively providing a plurality of parallelcircumferential belt-molding grooves,

one of said sections having a hub with a bore extending axially of said drum, a pair of hinged sections pivotally supported one at each end of the first said section for collapsing movement,

means on one ofsaid hinged sections engaging cammeans on the other of said hinged sections for eflecting simultaneous movementof said sections, and means rotatably mounted in said hub and connected to one of said hingedsections for moving said'hinged sections by relative movement of said'means and said hub to seat the belts insaid grooves in a taut condition 'and to free the belts from saidigrooves. 2. Apparatus for vulcanizing'endless belts, said apparatus comprising a drum having a plurality of segmental sections mounted for collapsing movement of asection relative to another with as it is defined said sections collectively providinga plurality of hinged section fo'r 'efiecting simultaneous movement of said :hinged sections, a support non-j mounted on said shaft, said drum comprising a sleeve arranged for nonrotative engagement with said shaft and having circumferentialgrooves for receiving the belts, a drum section havinga fixed hub with a bore rotatively mounted on said sleeve, complementaldrum sections moveable relative to the first said section and hingedly secured thereto, means connected between one I of said complementary drum sections and said.

sleeve and means on one of said movable drum sections engaging cooperating means on the other movable drum section effective upon relative rotation of the first said drum section and said sleeve for moving said complemental drum sections about their hinged connections toward and from said sleeve, the hubof the first said section being eccentric to the periphery of said drum to provide maximum collapsing movement, and means rotatably mounted relative to said shaft andengageable with the first said drum section for efiecting collapsing and expanding of said drum to free thebelts from said grooves and to seat thebelts in said grooves in a taut condition,

.4. Apparatus for mountingendless belts for vulcanizing them, saidapparatus comprising a support, a shaft nonrotatably mounted thereon, a collapsible. belt-molding drum removably mounted on' said shaft and having a plurality of circumferential grooves thereabout in spaced apart relation, said drum comprising a sleeve arranged for non-rotativeengagement with said shaft, a drum section having, afixed hub, with V sleeve for moving said complementary drum sections about their hinged c onnections towardand from said sleeve, thehub ofthe first 'said-section being eccentric to the periphery of said drum to provide maximum collapsing movement, and means rotatably. mounted relative tosaid shaft and engageable with the first saiddrum section for effecting collapsing and expanding of said drum to free the belts from said grooves and to seat the belts in said; grooves. in a taut condition. I 1 7 ROBERT R. AMBLERQ REFEIt NoEsoI'rEn The following references :are of record'in the file of this patentrm UNITED sTATEs-PATEN'rs-fj j Date .7

Number Name 1,300,391 7 V Hibbs Apr, 15, 1919 1,339,441 De Mattia iAug. 30, 1921 1,648,132 Johnson Nov. 8, 1927 1,729,329 'Chilton" LL Q Sept. 24, 1929 1,731,317 Hudson oot.,15,.1929 1,732,194 Miller Oct."l 5,' 1929 1,747,856 Burkley et al. Feb. 18, 1930 1,926,345 

